The Boom Boom Room

We've been joking for awhile that Shim has chosen the upper left hand corner of the womb as their "Boom Boom Room", replete with a deejay, disco ball, and bartender, since that's where I feel most of the kicks.

Tonight, we put that to the test.

We pulled this up on YouTube:

Kid. Went. CRAZY. This is, apparently, "their jam." I laughed so hard I almost cried. Who knew I was raising a hip hop fan?

Guess who aced their first big test?

Yesterday, we had our first fetal echocardiogram to check & make sure there's no fetal heart block or defects, based on my autoimmune disease history. I wasn't nervous until a day or so before, when for a couple of days the baby didn't move a whole lot and I thought, "What if there IS something wrong? Or the baby could just be going through a growth spurt and is taking some siesta time. Or... ACK!" I'm a worrier by nature, although I've got nuthin' on my Grandma Rosella who sincerely enjoyed being worried about anything and everything, even things that didn't need worrying about. All of my bloodwork & ultrasounds before this had been perfect, so there was no true cause for concern, but c'mon. I'm a first-time mom. I want to make sure my baby is okay!

So, we trooped off to UCLA to meet with a pediatric cardiologist. A fetal EKG involves an ultrasound where they focus in on the heart & map out the four chambers, the major nerves & arteries, and look at the pattern of the heartbeat to make sure it's normal. The doctor brought along another doctor who is doing an advanced residency with him (fellowship?) to train him on the procedure, which I was fine with. Both were extremely, extremely nice. This is pretty rare for specialists, who tend to be holier-than-thou and snobby in my experience, but I suppose when you deal with little kids most of the day you have to be a nice guy to begin with.

Anyways.

The baby aced their first big test!! The heart was a strong 130+ beats per minute, and looked and sounded perfect. We got to see the wee hands & feet and they pointed out the stomach & face to us, before getting down to business. The baby is head down, which explains why I feel all the kicks at the top of my uterus, and in order to get the scan they needed I ended up having to lay on my left side, facing away from the ultrasound screen. TORTURE FOR ME. I wanted to see! Thankfully, Dave was there so he got to watch, and he had a huuuuuge grin on his face the whole time.

So the baby looks great, although I still have to go for 2 more fetal EKGs at 24 and 28 weeks just to be on the safe side. YAY! No pictures to share, but we have our standard 21 week ultrasound in a few weeks with our regular OBGYN and I'll get some then.

Holy shiz, I AM pregnant.

Left side: 14.5 weeks, around 4/28/11.
Right side: 17.5 weeks, taken today 5/19/11.

Oh wow.

Have a heart(beat)

I had my 16 week prenatal checkup yesterday - standard weight (still losing weight a little bit, but the doctor says that's fine given my size), blood draws, leave a 'sample' in the bathroom, etc. Nothing I haven't done before a frajillion times since finding out I was pregnant.

But.

This week... The doctor busted out the doppler and I got to hear the baby's heartbeat. I've been feeling it move more some days and less others, so I knew it was doing fine, but it was still a wonderful confirmation that our child is alive and thriving in there. It took him a minute to find the heartbeat (a minute in which my own heart stopped), but then I heard this rapid "wompwompwompwompwomp," and he smiled and said, in his Israeli accent, "Perrrfekt." I grinned like the village idiot.

Part of me wants this baby to stay in there, warm and safe, as long as it needs to. The rest of me is so excited for October to get here, so we can meet this sweet little baby and finally hold them. Patience is a virtue, patience is a virtue, patience is a virtue....

Random Thoughts

I don't have a specific direction for this post... And there's a lot going through my mind, so I'll just do things in point form.

1. The baby kicks a LOT lately, usually in the upper left-hand corner of my womb. I joked to a friend that Shim had set up a "Boom Boom Room" in that corner, with comfy couches, a disco ball, a bartender, and snacks - why would they want to leave? It's like being tickled from the inside, and I love it. Once the kid is strong enough to really whomp me and do the tarantella on my bladder, it may not be so fun, but right now it's amazing.

2. Naming someone is HARD. We've established some rules: No exes, nothing that could be shortened to a totally terrible nickname, no initials that spell naughty words/abbreviations, etc. We had a boy name and a girl name picked out for a couple years before we ever started trying, but once I got pregnant I decided I wanted to have a few options in case the kid came out and the name we'd chosen didn't feel right.

I poke you, I poke you, I poke you!

(If you haven't seen The Impostors, go do so. Please.)

Shim is certainly a cheeky little pugilist/gymnast/soccer player/swimmer the last couple days... Anytime I'm sitting still or lying down for more than a few minutes at a time, I get little pokes and flutters as if to say, "Hey, I like it when you're moving, it's very soothing!" or, "I'm he-eeeeere!"

Last night, I was hanging out on the couch with Dave and he put his hand on my belly and said, "Hello, child." And the baby kicked his hand - well, I could feel it, he couldn't, but still. Shim knows their Daddy!

Poke, poke, poke.